On Thursday, civil liberties groups, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of California, filed a lawsuit against the governments Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) program. In its press release, the ACLU noted:

“The lawsuit…was brought on behalf of five Americans who had their information entered into law enforcement databases for innocent things like taking pictures, buying computers, or standing in a train station, and were then subjected to investigation (emphasis added).

Wiley Gill, a custodian at Chico State, and had a “flight simulator type of game” open on his computer during a police raid. The police believed a domestic violence suspect had fled into his apartment, which later turned out to be unfounded.

Khaled Ibrahim, a former purchasing agent for Nordix Computer Corporation. He attempted to buy a large amount of computers, and his name was entered into a Suspicious Activity Report.

Tariq Razak, who was looking for the county employment resources center, spent too much time in the train station. A Santa Clara, CA officer filed an SAR.

At least one of these plaintiffs, Mr. Razak, was reported due to the FBI/BJA (Bureau of Justice Assistance) documents we have been warning about since 2012. This set of documents, handed out to business owners in various fields, lists a wide ranging series of actions that could land someone on a terrorist watchlist, including “insisting on paying with cash,” “possibly mumbling to themselves,” and “note taking and sketching.”

Photographers and artists beware: taking the wrong picture might just land you in a government database.